Emergency manager highlights flood response, mitigation grants and a $1.25M outdoor‑warning opportunity

Jose Rivera, Tom Green County emergency manager, briefed the court on preparedness, response and mitigation efforts stemming from last summer's floods. "Last July 4, we had, as you know, over 1,800 properties affected by the flood," he said, and credited prior exercises and interagency coordination for enabling rapid damage assessments: his office obtained more than 1,200 damage assessments in three days, actions he said helped secure federal declarations for public assistance (PA) and individual assistance (IA).

Rivera outlined mitigation work and grants: a General Land Office grant of roughly $69,000 to update the county Hazard Mitigation Plan (the plan is now under FEMA review), a $140,000 vehicle exhaust grant for fire stations, and pursuit of a $1.25 million outdoor‑warning system to expand community alerting. He also described efforts to acquire swift‑water boats after near‑miss incidents in 2024 and praised cross‑jurisdictional training (including unified radio communications for the rodeo) as instrumental to recent successes. Commissioners discussed countywide communication system grants and a county‑level workshop to coordinate future grant strategy.